We’re Stronger Together: A Collaboration to Support Military Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges for every segment of the U.S. population, including military personnel and their families. The TriService Nursing Research Program’s Military Family Research Interest Group (FIG) formed a collaboration with Blue Star Families, a civilian non-profit organization, to identify potential issues faced by military families during the pandemic. Data Collection Methods The Pain Points Poll was introduced online by Blue Star Families, and findings were aggregated weekly between March 18 and May 26, 2020. Volunteer poll respondents were mainly recruited through social media outreach. FIG-informed questions were incorporated in week 4 of polling and focused on workplace environment, financial health, social support, physical and mental health, child behavior, utilization of family care plans, and general well-being. Data were collected to gain real-time insights into the major challenges posed by the pandemic. Findings from FIG-informed questions were collaboratively reviewed and analyzed by FIG and BSF teams. Data-driven recommendations were made to stakeholders to improve processes and reprioritize investments for services that aim to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on military families. Findings A total of 2,895 military family units (i.e., service members and spouses) responded to the poll, a majority of which (88%) represented active duty family units. Although the majority of families (range: 59%-69%) noted no impact to their finances, approximately one in five families endorsed dipping into their savings during the pandemic. A majority of respondents (69.5%) reported taking active measures to support their mental health, endorsing various strategies. Among parents of special needs children, 45% of active duty families and 60% of single-parent service members reported the inability to maintain continued services for their children. A majority of parents with school-aged children (65%) reported child behavioral changes due to their child’s inability to socialize with peers. Among military service members, 41% were concerned about obtaining fair performance evaluations during the crisis. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic produced significant challenges for military families. Collaboration between military and civilian partners can inform policies and appropriate strategies to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 for military families. The findings presented here provide insight into areas where military families can be supported for optimal outcomes during unprecedented times.

Color discriminability makes over-specification efficient: Theoretical analysis and empirical evidence

A psychophysical analysis of referential communication establishes a causal link between a visual stimulus and a speaker’s perception of this stimulus, and between the speaker’s internal representation and their reference production. Here, I argue that, in addition to visual perception and language, social cognition plays an integral part in this complex process, as it enables successful speaker-listener coordination. This pragmatic analysis of referential communication tries to explain the redundant use of color adjectives. It is well documented that people use color words when it is not necessary to identify the referent; for instance, they may refer to “the blue star” in a display of shapes with a single star. This type of redundancy challenges influential work from cognitive science and philosophy of language, suggesting that human communication is fundamentally efficient. Here, I explain these seemingly contradictory findings by confirming the visual efficiency hypothesis: redundant color words can facilitate the listener’s visual search for a referent, despite making the description unnecessarily long. Participants’ eye movements revealed that they were faster to find “the blue star” than “the star” in a display of shapes with only one star. A language production experiment further revealed that speakers are highly sensitive to a target’s discriminability, systematically reducing their use of redundant color adjectives as the color of the target became more pervasive in a display. It is concluded that a referential expression’s efficiency should be based not only on its informational value, but also on its discriminatory value, which means that redundant color words can be more efficient than shorter descriptions.

Propagation of Five Species in a Commercial-scale Submist System

The novel propagation system submist, which applies water to the bases of cuttings rather than overhead, is a promising alternative. We developed and tested a commercial-scale submist system to make this propagation system more accessible to commercial propagators. Five species, including blue star flower (Amsonia tabernaemontana), faassen nepeta (Nepeta ×faassenii ‘Six Hills Giant’), panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’), sweetgale (Myrica gale), and sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina), were propagated from cuttings in commercial-scale submist and overhead mist systems. Blue star flower and faassen nepeta cuttings had greater root length, root rating, and root number with the submist system. Panicle hydrangea cuttings had more roots in submist, but longer roots in overhead mist. There were no differences in rooting between the systems for sweetgale and sweetfern cuttings. The comparable or superior rooting of these five species in a submist system compared with traditional overhead mist systems is evidence that submist is a viable alternative propagation system. Water use in submist systems was 98% less than that for overhead mist systems.

A protocol for fast in vitro propagation of Impatiens hawkeri cv. Sweeties Blue Star, an important ornamental-cover species

Impatiens hawkeri is among the three important bedding plants in the world. There is no efficient protocol for fast micropropagation of Impatiens hawkeri cv. Sweeties Blue Star. Single nodes were germinated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA; 0.00, 0.10 and 0.50 mg l-1), 6-benzyladenine (BA; 0.00, 0.10, 0.50 and 1.00 mg l-1) and kinetin (KIN; 0.00, 0.10, 0.50 and 1.00 mg l-1). The shoot length was highest in medium containing 0.10 mg l-1 NAA and control. The largest number of shoots (14.06 and 14.00 per explant) was produced in media supplemented with 1.00 mg l-1 BA, 0.50 mg l-1 NAA and 1.00 mg l-1 BA, 0.10 mg l-1 NAA, respectively. The 0.10 mg l-1 NAA along with 1.00 mg l-1 BA was found to be superior for production of leaf (57.13). Maximum root length (33.80 mm) and root number (29.13) were obtained on medium supplemented with 0.10 mg l-1 NAA without BA and KIN. Plantlets were transplanted to pots filled with perlite and peat moss (in ratio of 1:1) and transferred to the greenhouse for acclimatization. Regenerated plantlets were morphologically identical with mother plants. Upon ex vitro transfer, 100% of plants survived.

Perencanaan Strategis SI/TI menggunakan Framework Ward and Peppard (Studi Kasus: PO. Blue Star)

Pengelolaan perusahaan yang belum terkomputerisasi menyebabkan manajemen yang kurang efektif dan efisien, sehingga mengakibatkan biaya operasional yang tinggi dan banyaknya variabel tidak terdokumentasi dengan baik. Pengembangan SI/TI yang tepat diperlukan agar fungsi-fungsi yang dihasilkan dapat memberikan manfaat dan keunggulan kompetitif bagi perusahaan. Untuk itu dibutuhkan suatu Perencanaan Strategis SI/TI yang terarah dan selaras dengan visi-misi perusahaan. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah framework Ward and Peppard. Tahapan awal dari penelitian ini adalah dengan menganalisis lingkungan bisnis dan lingkungan SI/TI internal dan eksternal perusahaan, seperti analisis SWOT, analisis Value Chain, analisis PEST dan analisis Porter’s Five Competitive Forces. Hasil dari penelitian adalah beberapa rekomendasi Sistem Informasi yang selaras dengan visi-misi dan kebutuhan perusahaan dengan dipetakan menggunakan matriks McFarlan Strategic Grid dan roadmap implementasi SI pada organisasi dalam jangka waktu empat tahun kedepan. Diharapkan dengan adanya perencanaan strategis ini, pengembangan SI/TI dapat terarah dan mendorong implementasi aplikasi yang mendukung kelangsungan proses bisnis perusahaan secara efektif dan efisien dan meminimalkan kebocoran anggaran.

ROOTING OF MEMBERS OF THE GENUS JUNIPERUS USING RHIZOGENESIS STIMULANTS

The article discusses the results of the use of root formation stimulants in the green propagation of four varieties of juniper: juniperus scopilorum 'Moonglow', juniperus squamata 'Blue Star', juniperus communis 'Hibernica', juniperus virginiana in a tree-decorative nursery. Rooting was carried out in summer cultivation facilities under conditions of artificial fog. Four serial production stimulants were tested: Kornevin, Heteroauxin, Root, Zircon. Statistical processing of data showed that the use of all considered stimulants allowed us to obtain results other than control. This suggests that the use of stimulants affects the rooting of introducers, but this effect may be the opposite. It has been established that treatment of cuttings with phytohormones in some cases increases the regenerative capacity of the considered juniper varieties. A comparison between the effectiveness of the drugs shows that there are no differences between the "Root" and "Kornevin" actions, while the differences with other drugs are significant at the significance level. The greatest effectiveness was demonstrated by preparations based on β - indolylbutyric acid Ukorenit, Kornevin, as well as Heteroauxin (indolyl-3-acetic acid). Treatments with Zircon cuttings (a mixture of hydroxycinnamic acids) in most cases showed inhibition of rhizogenesis.

Characterization of Local Products for Their Industrial Use: The Case of Italian Potato Cultivars Analyzed by Untargeted and Targeted Methodologies

The chemical characterization of local Italian potato cultivars is reported to promote their preservation and use as high quality raw material in food industries. Twenty potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars from Piedmont and Liguria Italian regions were investigated using NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) and RP-HPLC-PDA-ESI-MSn (Reversed Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Photodiode Array Detector and Electrospray Ionization Mass Detector) methodologies. Water soluble and lipophilic metabolites were identified and quantified. With respect to literature data, a more complete 1H (protonic) spectral assignment of the aqueous potato extracts was reported, whereas the 1H NMR assignment of potato organic extracts was reported here for the first time. Phenolics resulted to be in high concentrations in the purple–blue colored Rouge des Flandres, Bergerac, Fleur Bleu, and Blue Star cultivars. Servane, Piatlina, and Malou showed the highest amount of galacturonic acid, a marker of pectin presence, whereas Jelly cultivar was characterized by high levels of monosaccharides. Roseval and Rubra Spes contained high levels of citric acid involved in the inhibition of the enzymatic browning in fresh-cut potato. High levels of the amino acids involved in the formation of pleasant-smell volatile compounds during potato cooking were detected in Rouge des Flandres, Blue Star, Bergerac, Roseval, and Ratte cultivars. These results suggest that each local cultivar is characterized by a proper chemical profile related to specific proprieties that can be useful to obtain high quality industrial products.